SSN is a digest of the day's soccer/football/futbol articles with a focus on the top European leagues and the United States National Team. Below, you’ll find links to articles and video, as well as additional features and commentary. We locate the top news of the day so you can stay updated with ease.

Chelsea and Manchester United can win their respective UEFA Champions League groups with qualification to the knockout phase already assured.

There is significantly more at stake in Group C, where all four clubs retain hopes of qualification, although heavyweight duo AC Milan and Real Madrid currently occupy the top two berths.

Milan play host to third-placed Marseille, who are just one point adrift of the leading duo, with Leonardo's men knowing victory would be enough to see them through.

Real welcome an FC Zurich side spanked 6-1 by Marseille in their last outing, but the Spanish giants must be wary after the Swiss club claimed a shock success at the San Siro in September to secure their only success so far.

The trouble with the 'clásico' (Barcelona v Real Madrid, in case you didn't know) is that in the week preceding this apocalyptic fixture everything seems conditioned by its looming presence. It might have been better for the clubs themselves to have played the game on a weekend which neither preceded nor succeeded a Champions League midweek, but the gods of destiny preferred to keep things boiling over, sitting up there in the clouds this summer, poring over the fixture list.

Our discussion addressed a number of topics, including his views on using instant replay in soccer officiating (in the wake of the controversy in Wednesday's World Cup Ireland-France World Cup qualifier), the MLS salary cap, Landon Donovan's future in MLS, a move to a single table, consensus-building with MLS owners, and his thoughts on my book, The Beckham Experiment. The following conversation has been edited for space and clarity:

Goals fly in from all angles, with scoreboards threatening to blow a fuse and reporters racing through pencils as they frantically scribble away in an effort to keep up with the action unfolding in front of them.

These are the games which really capture the imagination - at least for the players and supporters of the side in the ascendancy.

Ronaldinho (Milan): Arguably the former Barcelona star’s best match this season. A full ninety minutes of ingenuity and creativity. His one-touch assist for Pato was sublime and his penalty was dispatched with confidence. He is thriving in Leonardo’s system and enjoying his football again.

Tottenham Hotspur went scoring bananas in a humiliation of Wigan Athletic, their North London rivals Arsenal saw their title aspirations suffer a blow while struggling pair Hull City and West Ham United played out a six-goal thriller.